Page 40 - BusinessWest January 23, 2023
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CHAMBER CORNERS: UPCOMING EVENTS>>
1BERKSHIRE
(413) 499-1600; www.1berkshire.com
Jan. 20: Women & Minority Owned Business Certifi- cation Summit, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Berkshire Innovation Center, 45 Woodlawn Ave., Pittsfield. 1Berkshire, EforAll Berkshire County, Pittsfield Eco- nomic Revitalization Corp., Berkshire Regional Plan- ning Commission, and Berkshire Innovation Center welcome any women- and/or minority-owned businesses in the Berkshires to join us for this free event that will provide information about becoming a certified women- and minority-owned business enterprise (WMBE), a space to network with fellow businesses, and direct access to resource providers who can walk you through the process of certifica- tion. This event is free and includes lunch. Registra- tion is required at www.1berkshire.com.
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Jan. 31: 1Berkshire Entrepreneurial Meetup, 4:30-
6 p.m., hosted by Anahata Schoolhouse Yoga and Wellness Center, 201 North Summer St., Adams. Join us for our first Entrepreneurial Meetup of 2023. Reconnect with your colleagues and hear from owner Howard Rosenberg about his entrepreneurial journey. This event is free to attend and made pos- sible through the support of Pittsfield Cooperative Bank. Registration is required at www.1berkshire. com.
GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(413) 527-9414; www.easthamptonchamber.org
Jan. 19: Annual meeting, 12-2 p.m., hosted by the Boylston Room, 122 Pleasant St., Easthampton. Join us as we share the successes of the last year, what we have learned, and where we are headed. Cost:
“We have a work-hard, play-hard atmosphere; we’re definitely busy, and we put education into everything we do to better our employees, but we like to have fun, too.”
help support human resources, make sure they’re in compliance with the DOL and IRS and ACA. So many of our clients really don’t have that classically trained human resources professional, and that’s where our team, not only locally but with Alera nationally, can help them make sure they’re in full compliance.”
On the residential side, customers need to under- stand what their policies cover as well, Grinnell said, while insurance carriers are insisting on certain levels of protection these days, especially in coastal regions or other areas vulnerable to catastrophic weather, “because the cost of claims has just skyrocketed.”
Creating a Culture
Webber & Grinnell’s relationship with clients even extends to conversations about workplace culture, which is key to employee retention, especially at a time when businesses are struggling with that.
“We practice what we preach here at the agency, and we’re really proactive about creating a positive culture, and we’ve learned a lot along the way,” Grin- nell said. “As a result, we’re able to have those con- versations with our clients. So we get into not only insurance, but also just plain running your business and how to make it better. We try to have those overall business conversations with our clients and not just focus on quoting policies.”
Duval seconded the idea of practicing what they preach. “We’ve continued to build our culture. We have a work-hard, play-hard atmosphere; we’re defi- nitely busy, and we put education into everything we do to better our employees, but we like to have fun, too.”
$35 for members, including lunch; $40 for future members, including lunch. To register, visit east- hamptonchamber.org.
GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(413) 568-1618; www.westfieldbiz.org
Jan. 26: Morning Brew, 8-9 a.m., hosted by Short- stop Bar & Grill, 99 Springfield Road, Westfield. Join us for a great networking opportunity. Introduce yourself and your business to the attendees. Every- one has a chance to discuss what their business does and what they are looking for to expand and improve. This event is free to attend. To register, visit www.westfieldbiz.org.
For example, a social committee plans events for both in-office and remote workers that helps everyone feel part of the organization and its collaborative spir- it, she explained. “We want to get to know the team and have team-building moments, so everyone feels supported and has an opportunity to meet and talk and have that collaborative spirit outside of work.”
Geffin noted that culture is so important at Webber & Grinnell that the agency has a ‘culture book’ that’s given to new employees as part of the onboarding.
“It’s a way to emphasize how important culture
is to the company, because, again, we try to practice what we preach. We talk about employee engagement with our clients, with our prospective clients, but most importantly with ourselves.”
That culture extends to supporting some 50 to 60 organizations in the community, by sponsoring events, like Safe Passage’s Hot Chocolate Run, and sitting on boards; for example, Grinnell is treasurer of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, and Geffin is trea- surer of Clinical & Support Options.
“Whenever an employee has an idea on something they want to do from a community standpoint, we’re always figuring out how we can work it in,” Geffin said. “I think that’s just being a part of a business community with our peers and colleagues throughout Western Mass. What makes Western Mass. so great is we all do this. It’s not unique to us. We’re just happy to be a part of that community.”
When the agency acquired Ross Insurance in Holy- oke several years ago, that was an important consid- eration for Ross as well, Grinnell said, which is why Webber & Grinnell has continued to support many Holyoke organizations.
It’s all part of a local focus that Alera has promoted from day one and impacts all parts of the business, he added.
“Alera’s tagline is ‘national scope, local service,’ and I think it’s really important to emphasize that, because we wanted that national scope, that ability to further enhance our colleagues’ careers and help our clients get more resources, yet not lose the local touch and the local leadership,” Geffin said. “When we made that move, that was top of the list.” BW
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Webber
business, being on their team — understanding what they do operationally and how that translates to risk management, rather than just looking at it purely from the standpoint of coverage and insurance and quotes.
“Any agency can just quote a bunch of policies; that’s the basic part of the job,” he went on. “But how do you understand their operations, their culture, their level of employee engagement, and how that translates to risk and risk management? That’s the difference. And I think that’s what clients value about what we do.”
Welnicki said Webber & Grinnell wants clients to see the agency as a key employee in their firm.
“You need to evaluate what revenues we’re receiv- ing as your broker and decide, are we worth it, just like any other key employee? If we’re not, then we’re not the right fit,” he explained. “We really want them to view us as an important resource of their busi- ness, and that’s why our retention rates have been in that 97%, 98%, 99% range year after year, to help us achieve that 8% to 10% growth.”
Risk is always evolving, Grinnell said, most notably in the cyber liability realm. Since major breaches like Bill: It’s always evolving. The biggest new coverage
that emerged in the last five to eight years is cyber lia- bility, and even that started off really as a coverage to protect your data. The TJ Maxx breach in 2007, which compromised the data of 94 million customers, and other breaches that followed have spurred companies to get on board with protecting their data.
“And that’s evolved even more; the bigger exposure now is extortion, where cyber thieves are coming in and shutting down your entire computer system and saying they want to be paid $100,000, $200,000, $500,000, or you’ll never log into your computer sys- tem again,” Grinnell said. “Not only is the coverage new, but how you’re selling it and what the exposures are have changed.”
So has the reporting employers have to do now because of the Affordable Care Act and a host of other regulatory entities, Welnicki said.
“You’ve got human-resource folks wearing 19 dif- ferent hats, and controllers, CFOs, and business man- agers trying to do the HR functions. Part of our job is
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